Slip-resistant fitted sheet

ABSTRACT

A fitted bed sheet hugs, clings to, and otherwise remains securely in place on a mattress without elastic or other stretchable materials sewn into the edges of the sheet. The fitted sheet is elastic-free and cut substantially to the exact size of the top of the mattress and substantially to the exact radius of the corners of the mattresses. Such a sheet leaves almost no room for the sheet to move either around or off the mattress. The fitted sheet may be provided with an additional non-slip and non-stick material on the interior or back side of the skirt for gripping the mattress. Alternatively, the fitted sheet may be provided with rubberized dots on the interior or back side of the skirt for gripping the mattress. The fitted sheet may also be provided with one or more rigid corner pieces to help prevent the sheet from sliding around the mattress.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application for patent claims the benefit of priority to, andincorporates herein by reference, U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No.61/611,451, entitled “Slip-Resistant Fitted Sheet,” filed Mar. 15, 2012,with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field of Invention

The embodiments disclosed and taught herein relate generally to acontoured fitted sheet and specifically to a slip-resistant contouredfitted sheet.

2. Description of Related Art

Fitted bed sheets, also called contoured fitted sheets, are sheets withsides or skirt portions that closely hug the sides of the mattress tokeep the sheets from slipping off the mattress. Existing fitted sheetsare typically made from a single piece of fabric with elastic bands sewninto the corner edges of the skirt portions. The elastic bands cinchunderneath the mattress to help retain the sheets on the mattress. Insome instances, the elastic bands may also be sewn along the entire edgeof the skirt portion.

Many bed sheet manufacturers make the sides or skirt portions of thesefitted sheets to be oversized/overlong so they can be used with severaldifferent mattress depths or thicknesses. As a result, the skirtportions of the sheets do not cling well to the sides of the mattress inmany cases and tend to shift and slide around on the mattress. This cancause the sheets to bunch up in certain places, reducing the comfortlevel for the user and generally giving the appearance of untidiness. Inaddition, the elastic bands around the skirt portions can wear out overtime with washing and use, making the shifting and sliding worse.

Accordingly, what is needed is a fitted bed sheet that hugs, clings to,and otherwise remains securely in place on a mattress without the aid ofelastic or other stretchable materials sewn into the edges of the skirtportions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The disclosed embodiments provide a fitted bed sheet that overcomes theproblems with existing fitted sheet mentioned above as well as otherproblems.

In general, in one aspect, the disclosed embodiments are directed to afitted sheet for a mattress. The fitted sheet comprises, among otherthings, a top portion cut substantially to the same dimensions as thetop of the mattress for covering the top of the mattress, and anelastic-free skirt portion attached to the top portion thatsubstantially matches the contour of the mattress, for covering thesides of the mattress. The attachment of the skirt portion to the topportion results in a seam around the edges of the top portion in someembodiments, and the skirt portion has a non-slip material on at least aportion of the interior surface of the skirt portion in someembodiments, to assist in gripping the mattress.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other aspects of the disclosed embodiments will becomeapparent from the following detailed description and upon reference tothe drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top view of an exemplary fitted bed sheet on a mattress inaccordance with one or more embodiments disclosed herein; and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an exemplary fitted bed sheet on amattress in accordance with one or more embodiments disclosed herein;

FIG. 3 is a top view of an exemplary corner piece that may be used withthe exemplary fitted bed sheet in accordance with one or moreembodiments disclosed herein; and

FIG. 4 is a top view of other exemplary corner pieces that may be usedwith the exemplary fitted bed sheet in accordance with one or moreembodiments disclosed herein.

DESCRIPTION OF DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS

The drawings described above and the written description of specificstructures and functions below are presented for illustrative purposesand not to limit the scope of what has been invented or the scope of theappended claims. Nor are the drawings drawn to any particular scale orfabrication standards, or intended to serve as blueprints, manufacturingparts list, or the like. Rather, the drawings and written descriptionare provided to teach any person skilled in the art to make and use theinventions for which patent protection is sought. Those skilled in theart will appreciate that not all features of a commercial embodiment ofthe inventions are described or shown for the sake of clarity andunderstanding.

Persons of skill in this art will also appreciate that the developmentof an actual, real commercial embodiment incorporating aspects of theinventions will require numerous implementation-specific decisions toachieve the developer's ultimate goal for the commercial embodiment.Such implementation-specific decisions may include, and likely are notlimited to, compliance with system-related, business-related,government-related and other constraints, which may vary by specificimplementation, location and from time to time. While a developer'sefforts might be complex and time-consuming in an absolute sense, suchefforts would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for those of skillin this art having the benefit of this disclosure.

It should also be understood that the embodiments disclosed and taughtherein are susceptible to numerous and various modifications andalternative forms. Thus, the use of a singular term, such as, but notlimited to, 104 and the like, is not intended as limiting of the numberof items. Similarly, any relational terms, such as, but not limited to,“top,” “bottom,” “left,” “right,” “upper,” “lower,” “down,” “up,”“side,” and the like, used in the written description are for clarity inspecific reference to the drawings and are not intended to limit thescope of the invention or the appended claims.

As alluded to above, embodiments of the invention relate generally to acontoured fitted sheet that hugs, clings to, and otherwise remainssecurely in place on a mattress without the aid of elastic or otherstretchable materials. The disclosed contoured fitted sheet iselastic-free and cut substantially to the exact size of the top of themattress and substantially to the exact radius of the corners of themattresses. Such a fitted construction leaves almost no room for thesheet to shift or move, either around or off, the mattress. As usedherein, the term “substantially” means within 0 to 5 percent of thetarget measurement of the disclosed embodiments, depending on the fabricmaterial used to construct the contoured fitted sheet.

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate an example of a bed 100 having a mattress 100 aand box springs 100 b. An elastic-free contoured fitted sheet 102 inaccordance with the disclosed embodiment is shown placed over themattress 100 a. As can be seen, in general, in one aspect, theelastic-free contoured fitted sheet 102 may be comprised of twoportions: a first or top portion 104 cut substantially to the samedimensions as the top of the mattress 100 a, for covering the top of themattress 100 a; and a second or skirt portion 106 attached to the topportion 104 that substantially fits to the contour of the mattress 100a, for covering the sides of the mattress 100 a. In some embodiments theskirt portion 106 may have a width that is substantially equal to thethickness of the mattress 100 a. In alternative embodiments, the skirtportion 106 may have a width that is greater than the thickness of themattress 100 a, resulting in an overhang that may be tucked underneaththe mattress 100 a as needed. Note also that the attachment of the skirtportion 106 to the top portion 104 naturally results in a seam aroundthe edges of the top portion 104, as indicated by the shaded borderaround the top portion 104.

The use of separate top portion 104 and skirt portion 106 provides amarked advantage over existing contoured fitted sheets that are composedof a single piece of material. In particular, the top portion 104 andskirt portion 106 allow the elastic-free contoured fitted sheet 102 tobe matched almost exactly with the dimensions of the mattress 100 a,including corners that have substantially the same radius as themattress 100 a. This snug fit leaves the elastic-free contoured fittedsheet 102 with little room to move relative to the mattress 100 a,causing the sheet to hug the mattress 100 a without the aid of elasticor other stretchable materials (i.e., elastic-free).

To keep the elastic-free contoured fitted sheet 102 further from movingor coming off the mattress 100 a, in some embodiments, the skirt portion106 may be provided with an additional non-slip and non-stick material108 on the interior or back side thereof for gripping the mattress 100a. The additional material may be applied, adhered, or otherwiseattached (e.g., sewn), for example, near the gusset area of the sheetand/or at other strategic locations on the interior surface of the skirtportion 106. Such materials may include, for example, a rubber-backedmaterial, a flannel material, and other high-friction materials (or acombination thereof) that have non-slip and non-stick properties forincreasing the amount of friction between the sheet 102 and the mattress100 a.

In some embodiments, rather than an additional layer of material, thenon-slip and non-stick material 108 may be a coating of non-slipskid-resistant material 110 that may be applied to the interior surfaceof the skirt portion 106. A close-up view of the non-slip skid-resistantmaterial 110 is shown in FIG. 2. As can be seen, in some embodiments,the non-slip skid-resistant material 110 may be in the form of dotsspaced apart at regular intervals that help hold the contoured fittedsheet 102 securely on the mattress 100 a.

In one embodiment, the spaced-apart dots of non-slip skid-resistantmaterial 110 may be a PVC (polyvinyl chloride) material, such as EcoPVC, and the like. The process of applying such rubberized dots to afabric sheet material is well known to those having ordinary skill inthe art and is therefore omitted here for economy of the description.Such an arrangement allows the skirt portion 106 to be made from thesame material as the top portion 104 without interposing a separatepiece of material in between the skirt portion 106 and the side of themattress 100 a. Of course, other non-slip skid-resistant materials 110besides the exemplary material disclosed herein may also be used withoutdeparting from the scope of the disclosed embodiments.

In some embodiments, it is also possible to use a rigid corner piecemade of a plastic or other light but stiff material, for example, thatis applied, adhered or otherwise affixed (e.g., inserted in a pocket) onthe interior surface of the skirt portion 106 at or near the gussetareas, one of which is labeled as 112 in FIG. 2.

An enlarged view of a gusset area 112 looking down over the mattress 100a is illustrated in FIG. 3. As can be seen, in some embodiments, acorner piece 114 may be adhered or otherwise affixed on the interiorsurface of the skirt portion 106 at or near each gusset area 112. Thecorner piece 114 may be a unitary piece forming a corner or bend havingsubstantially the same radius as the corner or bend of the mattress 100a and extending either part of the depth or the entire depth of theskirt portion 106. Once such a corner piece 114 is in place at one ormore of the gusset areas 112, the stiffness of the corner piece 114helps keep the skirt portion 106 from sliding around the corners orbends of the mattress 100 a.

In other embodiments, instead of (or in addition to) a rounded or curvedcorner piece 114, a flat corner piece 116 (i.e., no radius) may also beused, as illustrated in FIG. 4. Like the rounded or curved corner piece114, the flat corner piece 116 may also be made of a plastic or otherlight but stiff material. When such a flat corner piece 116 ispositioned on either side, or on both sides, of one or more corners orbends of the mattress 100 a, the stiffness of the flat corner piece 116helps prevent the sheet 102 from sliding around the corners or bends ofthe mattress 100 a.

While the disclosed embodiments have been described with reference toone or more particular implementations, those skilled in the art willrecognize that many changes may be made thereto without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the description. Each of these embodiments andobvious variations thereof is contemplated as falling within the spiritand scope of the claimed invention, which is set forth in the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A fitted sheet for a mattress, comprising: a topportion cut substantially to the same dimensions as the top of themattress for covering the top of the mattress; and an elastic-free skirtportion attached to the top portion that substantially matches thecontour of the mattress for covering the sides of the mattress, theattachment of the skirt portion to the top portion resulting in a seamaround the edges of the top portion; wherein the skirt portion has anon-slip material on at least a portion of the interior surface of theskirt portion to assist in gripping the mattress.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the skirt portion has a width that issubstantially equal to the thickness of the mattress.
 3. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the skirt portion has a width that isgreater than the thickness of the mattress.
 4. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the non-slip material is one or more of a rubber-backedmaterial and a flannel material adhered to at least a portion of theinterior surface of the skirt portion.
 5. The method according to claim1, wherein the non-slip material is a plurality of rubberized dotsspaced apart at regular intervals on at least a portion of the interiorsurface of the skirt portion.
 6. The method according to claim 5,wherein the rubberized dots are made of a polyvinyl chloride material.7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a rigid cornerpiece dispose at one or more gusset areas of the skirt portion.
 8. Themethod according to claim 7, wherein the rigid corner piece is one ormore of the rounded corner piece and a flat quarter piece.